John Darwin, the man made famous by his plot to fake his own death in a canoe, almost blew his own cover when an ex-colleague saw him pottering in his garden - 14 months after he was supposed to have died. The fraudster is believed to have been so cocky about not being recognised in his disguise of a beard and a hat.
While his two sons mourned his “death”, Darwin would often potter about in the front yard of his home. The prison officer vanished at sea in his canoe in 2002 and was presumed to have drowned.
In fact, he had returned to the family home in Seaton Carew, Co Durham, to live in a secret room behind a wardrobe. Now, former colleague Dave Smith says he spotted him gardening in 2003, reports MirrorOnline.
